So this DBTG is all about me. I am a little embarrassed about it, but I think it seriously needs to be said. I broke one of our 10 Commandments of Networking and I need to be called out on it.
See, this past ITintheD, I promised myself I would take it easy. As a good German, this weekend would be my favorite time of the year. The first week of Oktoberfest. I mean, on Friday on Saturday I would be knee deep in this…
…at my social club as well as my annual pilgrimage to Frankenmuth for the celebrations there on Saturday. With all of that in mind, I swore to myself that I would do my liver a favor and keep things nice and mellow at our ITintheD social event Thursday night…the “calm before the storm”, if you will.
That was the plan…and as well all know, Communism looked really great on paper, too.
Thursday night started off completely as intended. One beer. Some light munchies, just to take the edge off. But then, as they say…”whacky mayhem ensued” – I ran into some old friends I haven’t seen in a while, I was double-fisting pints of Hacker-Pschorr, and I foolishly accepted every shot thrown my way.
…and did I mention that I didn’t eat dinner? Yeah…those “light munchies” weren’t keeping up.
As the night progressed, I met a ton of people. Several bought me drinks, or reciprocated after I bought them one…and as a result, the longer the night went, the louder I became, the less pain I felt.
Well, I happened to meet someone, got their business card, saw what she did for a living and immediately got on her case. I normally never do this, but for reasons unbeknownst even to me, I decided it would be the right time to tell her my true feelings about her profession. I then whipped out this lovely little item…
…and I immediately became “that guy”. Too much to drink, no pain, and saying things I regretted in the morning. I jumped to all sorts of conclusions about her political stance, her life views, and other things that, in retrospect, were better off left as thoughts in my head. Unfortunately, the filter between my brain and my mouth was yet another casualty in the “Great War of Hacker-Pschorr versus Light Munchies”. [sigh]
And so I am offering myself up as the example for you to point and laugh at this time – the next time you are at a loose networking event and the sweet smell of alcohol hits your nose too hard, just remember that some other people might only have had a drink or two and what might be funny to you at the time might completely make you “That Guy” to someone else.
Until next time…